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Pennsylvania ACT Scores Up 1 Percent, Above National Average

Pennsylvania students scored higher than the national average on the 2012 ACT exam, with scores increasing 1 percent from last year, according to a report released Wednesday.

The average ACT composite score among Pennsylvania students was 22.4, up from 22.3 in 2011, and Pennsylvania students exceeded the national averages in all four subjects tested — English, reading, mathematics and science.

According to the report from the ACT, benchmark scores represent the level of achievement required for students to have a 50 percent chance of earning a B or a 75 percent chance of earning a C in a first-year college course in the subject matter tested. The benchmarks scores are 18 for English, 21 for reading, 22 for math and 24 for science.

In English 76 percent of Pennsylvania students hit college readiness benchmarks, with the national average at 67 percent. In reading, 62 percent of Pennsylvania students hit the benchmarks, 10 percentage points above the national average. In math, 59 percent of students hit the benchmarks, compared with 46 percent nationally, and in science 38 percent of Pennsylvania students hit the benchmarks, 7 percentage points above the U.S. average.

Click here to read the full article by Mary Niederberger published in the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette(August 23, 2012)